もみぢ葉は袖にこき入れてもていでなむ
秋は限りと見む人のため
秋は限りと見む人のため
- Roma-ji
-
Momijiba wa sode ni kokiirete mote idenamu
aki wa kagiri to mimu hito no tame - English Translation
-
scarlet leaves I will
gather into my sleeves and
carry them with me—
for those who have already
thought that autumn is done
- Meaning
- I will gather these crimson leaves into my sleeves and carry them home—for those who believe that autumn has already come to its end.
- Commentary
-
Book Five Autumn Poems (Part Two)
This poem was composed when the poet went mushroom gathering in the northern hills of Kyoto with the monk Sōjō Henjō.
Upon entering the mountains, he was delighted to find that the autumn leaves still remained. Wanting to share that joy, he resolves to gather the leaves into his sleeves and bring them back to show others. The poem expresses the simple yet vivid delight of this unexpected discovery.
Sōjō Henjō was the father of the poet Sosei.
- Author
- Sosei Hoshi
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
-
- though no ears appear I guard the mountain rice fields— in my humble dress; there is not a single day I am not soaked with the dew
- in fields already reaped the shoots that rise anew yet put forth no ears— is it that even the world has wearied now beyond all
- from the deep mountains the water that comes falling down— seeing its color I have come to know at last that autumn has reached its end
- year after year the Tatsuta River sends down crimson autumn leaves— is its harbor the place where autumn comes to its rest